PUFFIN

Pilot vessel Puffin photographed in Liverpool on 12 May 2016.

She is a new vessel that I have not seen before and was moored alongside the pilots headquarters for much of the day.

She is a Redbay Stormforce 1650 which have a glass reinforced plastic deep-V hull, with foam filled collars bonded to the hull sides. The 1650 is intended for a variety of commercial applications including Pilot, Patrol, and Passenger carrying usages.

Length Overal is 16.50m with a waterline length of 13.70m, a 4.79m beam and 1.10m draft.

Displacement is 17-20 tonnes.

She was built by Redbay boats who are based in Cushendall County on the North East Antrim Coastline, they started building specialised traditional wooden-clinker fishing boats in 1977.

BARNES

VALERIE

Port of London catamaran harbour patrol vessel Barnes photographed on the River Thames close to the Tower of London on 26 April 2016.

She is one of four sister ships used in the middle and lower districts of the tidal Thames, between Putney Bridge and the North Sea.

She was built by Alnmaritec, based in Alnwick, Northumberland and was designed by Newcastle University.

The vessels are 13.5 metres long and 4.8 metres wide with a weight of 11 tonnes.

Two John Deere 200 horsepower marine diesel engines provide a maximum speed of 21 knots and a patrol speed of 18 knots.

The Port of London Authority cover 95 miles of the River Thames. They work to keep commercial and leisure users safe, protect and enhance the environment and promote the use of the river for trade and travel.

Cowes Harbour Authority pilot vessel Valerie photographed in Cowes on 11 April 2015. She is a Nelson 40 V Class vessel built in 1971 for the Harwich Pilot Service before seeing service with Portland Harbour Authority. Purchased by Solent & Blue Line Cruises in 2010 she was refitted with most major systems including new engines, gearboxes and propellers. She can cruise and 17 Knots and carry 12 passengers.

SKUA

KITTIWAKE

Liverpool Pilot Vessel Skua photographed on 18 March 2015. She is an Interceptor 48 Pilot and was built be Safehaven Marine, the vessel was delivered to the Port of Liverpool in April 2010 and was the second of Safehaven Marines Interceptor 48 pilot vessels to be built. Skua is powered by twin Volvo D12 500hp engines and twin Disc 5114 SC quick shift gearboxes providing the vessel with an operational speed of 24kts. The vessel is 14.5m LOA, with a 4.3m beam and 18,000kg Displacement. She has a seating capacity for seven pilots and two crew. Five air suspension pilot seats are fitted in the main cabin with a further two in the forward cabin, which is fitted out with a full galley and separate WC.MMSI - 235085801Call Sign - 2EKC7Liverpool, 18 March 2015

Liverpool Pilot vessel Kittiwake photographed at high tide on 17 February 2015. Unfortunately I cannot seem to find much information about this vessel but I have seen her many times over the years working on the river and in the estuary.She is one of a long line of pilot craft servicing ships headed for Liverpool dating back to 'Nelly' in 1766 which was based in Anglesey. The first pilot boat based at Liverpool was the Liver 7 in 1788 and it was not until 1962 that the first motor launch services were introduced.In the distance can be seen the Mersey Ferry heading towards Pierhead after crossing the river and one of the Stena Line Ro-Ro Ferries being loaded for its next sailing to Ireland.

L2 Leader

SPITFIRE

L2 Leader photographed 11 March 2014 at one of the Pilot berths in the River Mersey.

She was previously operating as a Harbour Master vessel and was called Medway Leader before leaving Sheerness Docks on 13 September 2013 on the back of a low loader and making the journey North to Liverpool.

She has presumably been renamed L2 Leader because of the new Liverpool 2 Container Terminal currently being constructed by Peel Ports in the River Mersey.

This facility is designed to double the current container handling capacity of the port from 750,000 TEU to 1,500,000 TEU / Year and will be able to accommodate much larger vessels that currently are unable to enter the dock system.

Southampton Harbour Master vessel Spitfire coming into Cowes on 1 November 2014. I took the photograph from the top deck of the 11am Red Funnel ferry back to Southampton at the end of our holiday on the Isle of Wight.

She was the first of two Interceptor 55 Pilot Patrol vessels built for VT Critical Services by Safehaven Marine and was supplied to the ABP Port of Southampton in 2009. Powered by Scania D16 (650hp) engines she has an operational speed of 24.5 knots. Overall she is 16.7m long with a 5m beam and 1.50m draught.

I have seen the vessel and her sister ship 'Pathfinder' many times and she is used as a patrol and pilot boat in Southampton waters and in the wider Solent area.The vessel has air conditioned on board accommodation comprising twin bunk berths, a seating area, galley, toilets and showering facilities. One of the vessels roles is the removal of floating flotsam such as trees, pallets and other debris that often finds its way into the channel and become a hazard for boat users. To facilitate this she is fitted with a large stainless steel basket that can be lowered 400mm below the surface to recover flotsam. The basket has a 250kg lifting capacity and the rear deck allows the carrying of recovered objects to shore. The basket can be seen folded at the stern of the ship in my photograph.

MMSI - 235073277 Callsign - 2CJH2L 16.5 W 5Cowes, 1 November 2014

Dunlin

Liverpool Pilot Vessel Dunlin (MMSI 235031236) seen at Liverpool on a cold morning in February.

In March 2011 the lifeboat at New Brighton was called out to assist this vessel which was six miles out from the mouth of the Mersey in the early hours of the morning.

The stricken vessel had lost all power in its engines after a fire onboard had been extinguished by the crew. The boat was towed into Liverpool by its sister ship Petrel under escort from the lifeboat, none of the crew members were injured.

Picture taken in Liverpool, 8 February 2013

MARSOUIN

Small pilot vessel operating out of Le Treport photographed on our day trip there on 10 August 2013.

She was in immaculate condition - Many thanks to Yvon Perchoc who helped identify her as the Marsouin (meaning porpoise)

Id is DP.707830.

She has a length of 11.88m, GT of 20.16 and is powered by two Mitsubishi 200hp engines.

Her call sign is FI2123.

turnstone

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Liverpool Pilot Vessl Turnstone photographed alongside HMCS Iroquois on 25 May 2013. Built by Safehaven Marine she is the second new Pilot Interceptor 48 vessel built for the Port of Liverpool and was ordered in February 2012.

Turnstone is the 5th of Safehaven Marines Interceptor 48 pilot vessels to enter service in Ports worldwide and is the 25th pilot vessel built by them.

She is powered by a pair of Volvo D13 550hp engines and achieved 26 knots on sea trials. The vessel is 14.7m LOA, with a 4.3m beam and 18,000kg

displacement. She has a seating capacity for seven pilots and two crew, air suspension seats are fitted in the cabin which is also equiped with a full galley. She is able to operate in very harsh conditions and 7m+ waves. Safehaven are currently building an Interceptor 48 for P&O Maritime for operation in the Port of Matubo, Mozambique, a Search and rescue vessel for the Faroe Islands and a SAR ambulance vessel for the Port of Chittagon in Bangladesh.

I took these three pictures on the 11 April 2104 as she was heading back to Pilot Headquarters on the River Mersey.

Edmund GARDNER (PILOT BOAT 2)

Located in a Graving Dock Number 1 just North of the Albert Dock, Liverpool is the Edmund Gardner which was built in 1952/1953 by Philip & Son Ltd of Dartmouth. She operated as Pilot Boat Number 2 of a fleet of four pilot vessels introduced into service between 1937 and 1958.

The Mersey Docks and Harbour Board ordered her in July 1951 as the second of a new generation of large diesel-electric powered cutters to replace the pre-war steam cutters. She was launched 9 July 1953 and handed over 2 December 1953. Built of riveted steel and powered by two six cylinder single acting 640bhp National diesel engines with a single screw she could make a speed of 14 knots.

She is 54.1m long, with a beam of 9.6m, draft of 4.4m and 701 GRT.

Total build cost including a number of extra items was approximatly £211,000. Most if not all of the vessels were designed by Graham & Woolnough of Liverpool and named after the Chairmen of the Board i.e. Sir Thomas Brocklebank, Edmund Gardner, Arnet Robinson and William M Clarke. Their role was to provide a pilot service to guide the steady stream of ships entering and leaving the Mersey and as such they could accommodate up to 32 pilots and 11 apprentice pilots together with a regular crew.

Approaching the Port of Liverpool due to sand banks, shifting sands and strong tides has since always been a hazardous undertaking. In 1689 the first official chart of the Mersey was produced with a later version appearing in 1738.

Although charts made navigation easier, it was still precarious and local fishermen often acted as unofficial pilots / guides for vessels.The first official Liverpool Pilot Service was established by the Liverpool Pilotage Act of 1766 and resulted in the compulsory presence of a pilot aboard all vessels in the Mersey. The 19th century witnessed the significant development of Liverpool as an international port and the pilots provided an essential service for ships both entering and leaving port as well as manoeuvring into and out of the docks.

The cutters worked on a rota of one week on station at the Mersey bar, one week on station off Point Lynas and one week serving as supply boat and tender to the boats on station. Edmund Gardner carried out these duties until 1981 when the two remaining large cutters were withdrawn from service and replaced by smaller high speed launches.

She was bought in 1982 by the Merseyside Maritime Museum and maintained afloat in Princes Dock, Liverpool being moved to her current location in Canning Graving Dock Number 1 in 1984.